Found this on the Onion: 15 Lamentably Lost One-Season TV Wonders.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/54849/1

WONDERFALLS is conspicuously absent, but they do mention several other favorites [CUPID, NOW & AGAIN, ACTION].

Jeez, where's SCORCH on that list?

WOT!? no Q.E.D.?!?

What, no...? The list goes on and on. City of Angels with Wayne Rogers, The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin, American Gothic with Gary Cole, Planet of the Apes with Roddy McDowall...

IT'S YOUR MOVE with Jason Bateman and Caron Kaye was a one-season favorite of mine...

TENSPEED AND BROWNSHOE I haven't seen for a very long time, but I recall liking it, and the pairing of Jeff Goldblum and Ben Vereen still sounds appealing to me.

DUCK FACTORY with Jim Carrey as the television animator was one season, no?

NO SOAP, RADIO with Steve Guttenberg -- anyone remember this one?

DEVLIN CONNECTION with Jack Scalia and Rock Hudson -- I recall liking this too.

SHANNON'S DEAL...Jamey Sheridan's best role.

HOLMES AND YOYO!

ME AND THE CHIMP!

:unsure:

...oh, never mind...

'Mann & Machine'
'South Beach'
'Witchblade' (Two seasons, but they were 13 ep seasons, so I think it qualifies)
Yes, I like Yancy Butler.

Also, the late and still lamented 'Brimstone' and 'G vs E'.

Yeah, I noticed that Onion list, and I chastised them for assuming that television was apparently invented in 1990. I thought they were hipper than that.

One of my favorites is BEST OF THE WEST, a very witty western comedy starring Joel Higgins (SILVER SPOONS) as a mild-mannered family man who became sheriff of a little town run by dastardly Leonard Frey and his dumb sidekick Tracey Walter. It had a great Frankie Laine theme song and fantastic writing.

SHANNON'S DEAL was a great, great show.

I've got nothing to add except that my list would begin with It's Your Move, Planet of the Apes, The Night Stalker, Best of the West and American Gothic... all of which are already mentioned, of course... and would only include 5 of the shows they listed, although I confess there's a couple in there I missed and heard good things about.

But any list that includes Firefly and not those is by someone who can't be trusted a bit.

To me those are all "new" shows. Many older One-Season Wonders can be listed.

I'd start with

GOOD MORNING WORLD (1967)

HONDO (1967)

JOHNNY STACCATO (1959)

WHEN THINGS WERE ROTTEN!

Denis Leary's The Job

I've often wondered if I imagined watching NO SOAP, RADIO as a kid. Even though it was mentioned here, I'm still not convinced it was real.

How about NOBODY'S PREFECT, about an accident-prone Scotland Yard detective transferred to the San Francisco police force?

How about ALL IS FORGIVEN, a sitcom from the creators of CHEERS about the head writer on a soap opera that starred Bess Armstrong, Terence Knox, Shawnee Smith and Carol Kane?

And what about VOYAGERS?? CUPID was pretty terrific, though.

I loved SHANNON'S DEAL back in the day,especially since it was written by director John Sayles---to me it was like the anti-L.A. LAW show---with a more downbeat and realistic picture of a lawyer trying to practice his profession. Also loved CUPID, which got me hooked on anything Jeremy Piven was in afterwards. Here's some other good one-season wonders (faves of mine) that deserved better that weren't on the list, but definitely deserved a mention:

MIRACLES
MARTIAL LAW
WHOOPI
KEEN EDDIE
JOHNNY ZERO
BLIND JUSTICE
KEVIN HILL
THAT'S LIFE
MAXIMUM BOB
MY BROTHER'S KEEPER
GABRIEL'S FIRE
George Forman's frist and only sitcom (can't remember the name)
TEDDY Z
FRANK'S PLACE
a drama about rappers and their lives (can't remember the name,either)
THE AWFUL TRUTH
STRANGE LUCK

I thought for *years* that I'd imagined NO SOAP, RADIO. I didn't even have a name to go on -- just a vague description of a part of one episode involving a kid that runs away from his family (they're staying at the hotel, I guess), leaving behind some pillows arranged to look like his body under his bedsheets, and a basketball where his head would be. His parents come in the next morning, pull back the sheets and scream. Cut to later, a doctor emerges from the bedroom, informing the parents that he did everything he could do, but...
...and then a kid with a basketball for a head walks out of the room.

Nobody I'd ever talked to remembered what I was talking about (which is why, I guess, it only lasted for 5 episodes), and most thought I was delusional. But thanks to the helpful folks here, they no longer question my sanity. At least, not because of that.

For some reason, a number of pretty bad 60s sitcom one-season wonders have stayed with over the decades, even if I haven't seen them in the intervening years. As I was reminded here recently, even a show I swore was a 2-season wonder was in reality only one: It's About Time.

Then there was

The Living Doll
Hank
Camp Runamuck

And what about Captain Nice? Mr. Terrific? Both of those superhero spoofs were one seasoners, I believe?

None of these will ever have a place in the TV Hall of Fame, but they did something to stick in my kid brain all these years.

I wish some enterprising company would put out SHANNON'S DEAL on DVD. I also wish someone would release a legit version of JOHNNY STACCATO, which I've only seen on so-so dupes.

My favorite one season wonder is HONEY WEST. That's probably my numero uno DVD request, especially if they would get Anne Francis to participate.

My second request would be PRIVATE EYE, a very solid show that got better as it went along. Jamey Sheridan guest starred in one very solid episode with a roller derby background.

THE GREEN HORNET was only on for one season, right? I also liked THE FLASH, even if the producers never quite got a handle on the villains.

I also remember the goofy one-hit wonders of sixties tv and would add RUN, BUDDY, RUN with Jack Sheldon and THE PRUETTS OF SOUTH HAMPTON. (Howdya do, howdya do, howdya do my dears...)

Also, if a CPO SHARKEY set came out on DVD I would get it in a heartbeat, the punk rock episode is essential viewing!

The Lone Gunmen.

I loved the lone gunmen.

Why couldn't they have stuck with that show for more than a 1/4 season and let it grow a bit?

You killed The Lone Gunmen. You bastards!!

:angry:

The LONE GUNMAN series is on DVD, since it's gathered quite a cult following over the years---I saw it available for rent at a local Hollywood Videos store. I actually caught the first episode by accident some years ago and was intrieged that one of the main characters was listed as having grown up in Grand Rapid,MI--that was kind of funny. Here's a story I heard about it on the radio--on 1310 AM Air America,of all places---last summer. A caller who identified himself as an a hardcore old-school activist was talking about a particular episode of the show in which the Lone Gunman characters uncovered a plot to destroy the World Trade Center and were desperately trying to warn people in time about it. The episode, according to the caller, was actually filmed 6 months before 9/11,and he said there was a commentary or interview on it with the writers, who said they were stunned because they never in their wildest dreams imagined that the real thing would actually happen. That just sounded fascinating--and disturbing--to me.

Another one-season fave I have is KAREN SISCO and another called GRAPEVINE that lasted all of 4 or 5 episodes back in 1992. Interesting fact about GRAPEVINE---it was actually brought back about 6-7 years later and STILL didn't get past a few episodes. Basically, it was a laugh track-less drama sitcom where the characters talked to the camera about rumors and gossip amongst their friends/themselves. Just found it interesting that a second attempt was made with it,considering very few people probably even saw it the first time around.

Some others:

LIFE WITH BONNIE---I thought it was a cool show because of the relaxed, seemingly improvisational quality about it---not your typical sitcom at all.
THE APARTMENT--an early 1992 sitcom attempt by Bonne Hunt,who also created and directed LIFE WITH BONNIE. I only got to see one episode,but I found it to be refreshingly offbeat and different---which meant of course it didn't have a chance in hell of lasting longer than a minute,like most weird,inventive shows I like (with the exception of SCRUBS and LOST). :)

Thoughts of HONEY WEST have me wishing now for all 26 episodes of T.H.E. CAT with Robert Loggia as Thomas Hewett Edward Cat, who was a cat burglar. Who wouldn't want to cat-ch up with that show?

Not to be too "to the letter," but I think LIFE WITH BONNIE lasted two seasons, no?

HONEY WEST is being released on DVD in the UK on Monday!

Amazon.co.uk Link

Bonnie Hunt had one failed series after another. I think my favorite was the first one she did post-DAVIS RULES, about a woman who lived in an apartment building overlooking Wrigley Field. I think it was one of the first extracuricular shows produced by David Letterman's World-Wide Pants. It was cancelled really quickly.

THAT'S LIFE actually had a second season, but it reeked of studio interference. They got rid of several regular characters, added a new love interest and it wasn't nearly as good as season 1. Heather Paige Kent seems to have fallen off the face of the earth since this show aired.

I was turned off of THE LONE GUNMEN early because of the doofy guy they threw in there not trusting the Gunmen themselves to carry the show. I didn't see it through to the end.

Thanks for mentioning STRANGE LUCK. I thought I was the only one who remembered that show. It was one of the casualties of the Fox timeslot o' death [other casualties: BRIMSTONE, FIREFLY, WONDERFALLS, JOHN DOE, VR-5].

I have very, very vague memories of the horror anthology Darkroom, hosted by James Coburn. You can see the opening credits here.

I remember DARKROOM, but I also remember it not being very good. Anyone with more specific memories able to comment?

The same thing happened to The John LaRoqette Show - the first season was pretty dark for network TV - barely-recovering alcoholic writer becomes night manager of a bus station; his love interest was a bus-station prostitute!

For the second season, they took off every edge they could find - the prostitute became the owner of the bar next door, and he even switched shifts to days -- a perfect metaphor for the failed 'sunnying-up' order by some network types.

But the first season was very interesting, I remember.

It did. There also was THE BONNIE HUNT SHOW, which ran less than one season. All three Bonnie Hunt sitcoms are very good.

"HONEY WEST is being released on DVD in the UK on Monday! "

Julian, thanks for this information. You made my week! The set also includes the BURKE'S LAW segment Honey originally appeared on. I had a real dupey copy of this episode, so it will be cool to watch a quality version of this.

I pretty much quit watching television because any new series I liked never made it all the way through the first season. And if they did, they didn't get a second.

There's a sick part of me that would welcome a cable channel dedicated to failed pilots and short-lived TV series...but not enough to actually subscribe if someone were fool enough to attempt it.

DOG AND CAT (1977) - A detective show with Lou Antonio, Kim Basinger and Matt Clark. One pilot and six episodes. Bob Kelljan directed and Walter Hill was one of the writers.

Having worked for ten (long) years in a hopping inner city hospital, failed hospital sitcoms are near and dear to me. TEMPERATURE'S RISING actually lasted two seasons and I watched that show fairly regularly as a kid. I think I got one episode into A.E.S. HUDSON STREET (circa 1977, and Gregory Sierra's BARNEY MILLER follow up) and never caught E/R (circa 1984... with George Clooney), based on a play staged by Stuart Gordon's Organic Theater.

Strangely enough, E/R actually went into reruns for awhile, I think on Lifetime. It was not a bad little show, and the cast was great: Mary McDonnell, Elliott Gould, Jason Alexander, Lynne Moody, Conchata Ferrell...and, yeah, Clooney too.

Spoilers ahead (if some besides me might actually care about this show):
I wanted more 1998/9 Mortal Kombat: Conquest, but they did kill all the leads at the end of the final episode. I read that there was a resurrection planned (which had been partially set up), but that a co-production partner wanted a bigger slice of the percentage profits on season two, and then the whole thing was dropped. Also, the original full season order (production) seems an episode or two light from what I saw originally planned - probably told the writers to wrap it up a couple of episodes early.

Legend Of The Golden Monkey - Pretty sure that was the name. I loved it, but the name was awkward.

TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY. That was a fun show produced by Donald Bellisario, then riding high as the producer of MAGNUM, P.I. Obviously influenced by RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, it was a well-mounted action show set in the '30s that was loaded with humor and fun. Stephen Collins, now the dad on 7TH HEAVEN but then known only from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, was a more clean-cut Indiana Jones with Jeff McKay (from MAGNUM) as his comic mechanic sidekick, Roddy McDowall as a roguish bar owner, Caitlin O'Heaney (HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE) as a torch singer, and yummy Marta DuBois as a sinister princess. Mike Post and Pete Carpenter composed the theme.

CBS debuted the similar BRING 'EM BACK ALIVE with Bruce Boxleitner as Frank Buck the same season. Neither show made it to Season Two, but GOLD MONKEY was better. I'd buy this on DVD.

BTW, the exterior set of McDowall's bar still resides on the Universal backlot. I saw it last month on the studio tour.

EDIT: Here's a link to a video of the opening titles, which give you a good idea of what the show is about:
TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY

Ah-haha!!! There ya go Marty!!! Thanks!

Actually, it was the original pilot episode of THE LONE GUNMEN that was about the plane crashing into the World Trade Center. It aired just over 6 months before 9/11 in March '01 so it was obviously shot somewhat earlier.

Another one-season show that comes to mind is the early 70's 'Night Gallery' type show GHOST STORY/CIRCLE OF FEAR. It only lasted one season even though it had a name change half-way through.

It's actually "Jeff MacKay", not Jeff McKay. Back in the days when that show was on the air, and for several years after the show was cancelled, I'd periodically get phone calls in my L.A. abode from people around the country who thought I was the guy from "TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY", having acquired my phone number from information. Most seemed to be "old friends" probably looking to rekindle their relationship with a Hollywood star. Oh well, sorry to disappoint them! After a while I just decided to get an unlisted number.

Did this feature host segments by Sebastian Cabot? I seem to remember him introducing the show from the back patio of the Hotel del Coronado, but maybe I'm thinking of something else. The Del does have a haunted room, but I don't recall whether they did a story on it or not.

Ya, Sebastian Cabot hosted the show when it was called "GHOST STORY". They dropped him when they changed it to "CIRCLE OF FEAR" which had no host. I still have a bunch of taped episodes laying around here somewhere (possibly the whole series), but haven't watched them in years. Don't remember them being that great, but I recall the guest stars being quite impressive.